Defense-Update presents: Heron-TP Trailer for upcoming Singapore 2010 Airshow
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January 30, 2010
Israel's New Fleet Of Super Drones Can Reach Iran
Israel's air force on Sunday introduced a fleet of huge pilotless planes that can remain in the air for a full day and fly as far as the Persian Gulf, putting rival Iran within its range. The Heron TP drones have a wingspan of 86 feet (26 meters), making them the size of Boeing 737 passenger jets and the largest unmanned aircraft in Israel's military. The planes can fly at least 20 consecutive hours and are primarily used for surveillance and carrying diverse payloads.
Depressing theory: Israel only revealed the fleet because it doesn't intend to use it on Iran. If an attack was in the works, the existence of the drones wouldn't be confirmed until they were done dropping ordinances on Natanz. Israel's new urban warfare weapons were unveiled during Cast Lead, and not in a formal setting.
Possible counter-theory: the US and the EU3 need to credibly raise the specter of an Israeli attack to get China and Russia on board the sanctions train, and this is aimed in that direction.
Depressing counter-counter-theory: China's never going to assent to a genuine and robust sanctions regime. Minus military action, Iran's going nuclear.
Should that happen, Israel is working on a few other drone projects as well:
Israel is increasingly worried about the threat of a nuclear, missile-equipped Iran. So the Israeli military is working on "a high-flying, long-endurance unmanned infrared sensor" that can tell the difference between "nuclear warheads amid dozens of decoys sent to confound national missile defenses," Defense News' Barbara Opall-Rome reports. "If implemented, the Israeli program will mark the first use of an unmanned platform for [n]uclear warhead hunting."
The problem, of course, is that only a single missile has to get through for the result to be nuclear genocide. How lucky do you feel? How lucky do you think Netanyahu feels? Barack put the point of no return somewhere around the first half of 2010, and that was in the context of Iran's last generation of long-range missiles.
Then the P5+1 couldn't meet because the Chinese were too busy. Then they met but couldn't come to a consensus. Then Iran showed off their new lines of even more powerful domestically-produced offensive missiles.
So probably not all that lucky.
References:
* Israel unveils new drone fleet that can reach Iran [AP]
* Israel Developing Nuke-Hunting Drone [Wired Danger Room]
* Israel Says Iran Close to Nuclear Capability [VOA]
* World powers fail to agree in meeting on Iran [JTA]
* Clenched With Two New Offensive Missile Lines [IIFSC]
Related Mere Rhetoric Categories:
* Israel
* Israeli Technology
* Iran
